Board approves 1305 Holly Ave. dispensary but rejects drive‑through stacking; parking reduction approved with conditions

The Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment on Jan. 28 approved a special permit to allow a marijuana dispensary at 1305 Holly Avenue but rejected the applicant’s requested drive‑through stacking configuration, after extended public testimony from neighboring businesses and transportation concerns.

Board members voted to reduce the required number of on‑site parking spaces from 30 to 15, conditioned on the applicant providing two bike racks and a plan to manage on‑site parking and drive‑through activity. The board separately voted down the narrower variance request that would have allowed the drive‑through lane to operate without an order station and with only five stacking spaces.

Why it matters: Neighbors and adjacent businesses warned that a drive‑through and a large customer volume would overflow shared drive aisles and private loading docks, creating safety and access problems for existing operations. The board’s split votes reflect an attempt to balance the applicant’s operational model against documented local traffic and access constraints.

Applicant plan and board action The applicant, represented at the hearing by Jacqueline Wick (applicant/operations representative) and Ian Jones (applicant/operations), asked for three related approvals: a special permit to operate a retail marijuana dispensary with a customer pick‑up window; a variance reducing required parking from 30 spaces to 10; and a variance to reduce drive‑through stacking from eight spaces to five and to permit a drive‑through without an on‑site order station.

Following public comment…